California Gas Stations Begin to Shut on Record-High Prices

so I am trying to put this in a bit of perspective to those of us who work in litres.
roughly 4 litres to a gallon and it costs folks in the US around $4 dollars a gallon
It costs me around $6.40 a gallon and the Australian dollar is worth more than the US dollar.

It doesnt matter where you live, they will screw you on fuel, electricity and food,
they charge enough to keep us from saving too much and getting ahead in life, every now and then you think you are getting up and they hit you with
another increase,
example, my home insurance increased a further $600 dollars without even making a claim.

I know someone that ran a gas station several years ago. Whenever one station in the area changed their prices, the others would match them quickly.
They would notify the other stations that they were changing their prices, but they didn't consult.

Agreed. When I working in grocery management we had a gas station and one of the jobs I had was to drive to the four closest competing stations a few
times a day to see what they were charging. If they went up, we went up, but a penny less. If they went down, we went down. No good reason to increase
or decrease prices was ever used to determine the price.

The government makes more off a gallon of gas than the oil company. That is the plain truth. I'm so sick of people pointing the finger at industry in
this country. Here is a bit of information along with a link for you.

You may blame high gas prices on rich oil company executives or greedy gas station owners. The truth is that governments rake in a larger profit at
the pump than anyone—and with gas taxes on the rise in many parts of the country, there's no relief in sight. The price of a gallon of gas is based
on the combination of four costs: that of crude oil, of refining gas, of distribution and marketing, and of taxes.

Crude oil costs make up about 76% of the cost of gasoline, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Thus $2.66 of a $3.50 gallon of
gasoline is set before the oil is even refined.

Refining oil is the next step in the process—and the next expense for drivers. Gasoline is extracted from crude oil and additives, including
lubricants and detergents to reduce engine deposits, are added. As of January 2012, the EIA found that refining was responsible for 6% of the cost of
gasoline.

Distribution and marketing—the part of the process most apparent to consumers—constitutes another 6% of gas prices

The remaining 12%—or almost 50 cents per gallon today—goes directly to federal, state and local governments in an array of sales and excise taxes.
The federal gas tax is 18.4 cents on every gallon of gasoline sold in America. State gas-tax rates vary from a low of eight cents per gallon in Alaska
to a jarring 49 cents per gallon in New York. Other states where it's steep to fill up include California and Connecticut—each with
48.6-cent-per-gallon gas taxes—and Hawaii, at 47.1 cents per gallon. Some local governments have gotten in on the act, too. In California, local
sales and excise taxes on gasoline average 3.1%, according to the Los Angeles Times. That works out to about 12 cents in local taxes for each gallon
of gas, based on the state's current average of $3.80 per gallon.

Put this all together, and government makes far more from gas sales than all of the oil companies put together. Exxon, for example, made only seven
cents per gallon of gasoline in 2011. That's a drop in the bucket compared to the nearly 50 cents per gallon that federal, state and local
governments rake in on an average gallon of gas pumped in the U.S.

Also within the article I linked, state and federal corporate income tax is not counted -- only taxable profit. Also not counted are the severance
taxes. Also the payroll taxes. And the property taxes. And the sales tax on corporate capital equipment and consumables. Not to mention the taxes on
insurance, travel tickets, etc. paid by companies like Exxon.

But by all means, please go back to bashing the evil oil companies who are price gauging you.

Depends on the gas station. I worked as a financial analyst for a refining company that eventually became a part of Valero. The majority of stations
with our brand were owned by our company. Then there was a percentage, perhaps 30% (?), that were independently owned but branded under our company.

^^THIS. California is a closed market due to the state mandates on gasoline. Refineries had to put billions of dollars into upgrades to meet the
state mix standards, one of the reasons CA gas always costs more than other states. The other problem with this is companies cannot import gas INTO
California, leaving the only the gas produced in CA available. There's been a refinery fire and another refinery shut down recently which tightens
supply.

BTW, the oil industry was the one industry I worked in that had near perfect information on what competitors were doing through an internet news
service back in the mid 90's. If another wholesaler increased their prices, we knew within a very short time and would raise our.s

What I don't understand is where do they find these 'shmucks' when they do report on gas prices in the news who say 'oh, well, what are you gonna
do about it'? Why can't they find the people who say 'This is friggin' ridiculous, how the heck am i gonna afford my food too'? Used to be that
the prices rose before a long weekend, then it was when a hurricane was approaching, then before the weekend, now it is Monday, or Tuesday, doesn't
matter anymore which day it goes up, the sad thing is it doesn't go down. Travel to visit family is limited now, so there goes the family, the
downward spiral just keeps speeding up.

I won't buy diesel in California. If I'm not sure I can make it out with what I have, I'll put between 30 and 50 gallons in and that's all.
It's usually up to 50 cents higher for diesel there than the states around it.

Originally posted by sylent6
I knew I must have been trippin' out because I stopped at the gas station and told the clerk to give me $20.

When I return to the pump, I decided to use regular instead of plus to save a cent or two.

While I was pumping, I notice it was $4.45 a gallon when it was $4.05 two freaking days ago? This is the Central Valley we're talking about here and
I know L.A. is worse.

I couldn't believe this bull has happen. What in the heck is going on?

the big oil companies will price it as high as they can before losing market share...there is no upper limit, and there isn't a government official
that will try and change the oil companies stranglehold on prices....the oil companies have the leverage to cause some serious economic damage if they
wanted to, and the boys in washington know it. as long as you use gas, you will pay their prices, period

for the next 6 to 12 months, they will get us used to paying 4 dollars a gal.....then, a "event" will happen, and gas will goes to 5 dollars a gal.
for a short time, but come back down to 4.50...after months of creeping up to 5 dollars, for various "seasonal", or "refinery problems"...we will
hover around 5 dollars for a specified amount of time until we get used to it...and the whole process starts again.

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